Every time you try to say 'Africa is...' the words crumble and break.From every generalisation you must exclude at least five countries. And just as you think you've nailed down a certainty, you find the opposite is also true.Africa is full of surprises. For the past three decades, Richard Dowden has travelled this vast and varied continent, listening, learning, and constantly re-evaluating all he thinks he knows. Country by country, he has sought out the local and the personal, the incidents, actions, and characters to tell a story of modern sub-Saharan Africa - an area affected by poverty, disease and war, but also a place of breathtaking beauty, generosity and possibility.The result is a landmark book, compelling, illuminating, and always surprising.Updated for 2018, Africa remains one of the most comprehensive, intelligent and responsive works on the continent ever written.